


The Puppet and the Puppeteer

by Strawberry17



Category: Showdown Bandit (Video Game)
Genre: Bandit can’t speak and is only capable of doing basic movements on his own, Friendship, Gen, Neither does Bandit, Reader has no idea what the hell’s going on, Reader is a puppeteer, Reader is human, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberry17/pseuds/Strawberry17
Summary: You have no idea how you got in this situation. All you know is that you’re far from home and now are helping a certain puppet stay alive in a world that wants him dead.It’s definitely a lot better getting through this together than  being alone, and your new friend definitely makes the whole situation a little more bearable
Relationships: No Romantic Relationships - Relationship, Showdown Bandit and Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	1. Episode 1, Part 1-The meeting

Cold. It was cold.  
“Ughhh.” You sat up rubbing your head in a sleepy daze. It’s pitch black, what time is it? You shivered again, not because of the cold, but because something felt very, very, wrong. You reached out in the area in front of you, and let out a gasp when your fingers brushed against something smooth and metallic. You reached for it again, and you were able to at least see the outline as your eyes were starting to get used to the lack of light. It was a flashlight. You turned it on, having the rather weak beam scan all over the area around you. There was nothing here that you recognized, a wooden ceiling, and an ugly green tile floor, and ... a bag with a note? You finally stood up and walked over to the bag, raising the note to the flashlight so it would be easier to read. 

_Hey there!  
Sorry about not being there when you wake up. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions, but we had to get a move on. Here’s some supplies to help get you started. And also I think the notebook’s yours? Don’t worry, I didn’t look through it. Well, we’ll see you soon, I’m sure of it!  
Good luck!  
Michael_

Well, the bag must have been left for you, might as well take a look through it. Several cans of food, a first aid kit, a pocket knife, a ... lighter? Why did it give you a sense of deja vu? You scratch your head in annoyance and confusion, you were sure you’ve seen this lighter somewhere before, you just can’t remember where. And how did you even get here anyways? You racked your brain, trying to figure it out. You could remember everything before showing up, your home, family, friends, school, but the events leading up to you waking up were nothing more than a fuzzy blur. “That’s … concerning.” You mumbled. You felt like you couldn’t be too loud, but it was nice to have something to fill the silence than just your breathing. The notebook didn’t prove to be of any use either, only being full of class notes and doodles. You better get moving too, maybe you could find someone who could help. 

You wandered around in the dark for at least a minute before coming across a stage of some sort. You looked over the edge. It was meant to look like a backstage of sorts, with piles of black boxes with silver trim stacked high. There was also a piece of tape on each, possibly labels, but they were too small to read. Your eyes noticed something on top of the stage, and by second nature you picked it up. It didn’t look like anything special, just two pieces of wood stuck together to form a X-shape. It did have five strings, but they didn’t seem to be connected to anything. Weird. 

As if on cue, a rather pretty puppet with a top hat made her way through the stage. You raised an eyebrow. She had strings, strings that should be connected to something, but it was so dark that even with the flashlight, you couldn’t see more than 3 feet in front of you, much less anything that would let her move. Not to mention that she felt familiar, but you couldn’t figure out where you have seen her before. Suddenly, she started to turn her head as she moved, as if looking for something or somebody and then opened her mouth to speak. “Hello there! Are we feelin’ shy? You don’t need to hide from me, poor little thing. It’s a big scary world out here, I know.” The puppet immediately perked up and rushed over to one particular box. It definitely didn’t look like anything special compared to the others, save for the rather large rip in the middle. What happened to it? 

The puppet seemed to peer through the rip at whatever was inside, maybe just as curious as you were. “Oh my! It’s you. Well that is something. Let’s get you out of that box and out into the light.” She moved to the side of the box and placed a key into the lock. With just a few clicks, she swung the door open, but while you could see a faint outline of what seemed to be another puppet, you couldn’t make out the rest. “Oh my dear! Sure as my name is Lorelei Undertaker, I didn’t drag you back up here on purpose.” Of course, Miss Undertaker, now you remember! She was one of your favorite characters on the Showdown Bandit Show. While the episodes aren't on TV anymore, they definitely were online and it was fun to watch for a kid’s show from the 1950s. It was too bad it was just canceled for apparently no reason, it would have been nice for it to have a proper ending. “But, if you’re here, it must be what he wants.” Wait, he? Something about the way she pointed up and the lack of a proper name gave you a bit of dread. “Either way, I suppose we must get going! The show must go on!” Miss Undertaker stated, her finger pointed up as she marched away.

Your attention was drawn back to the box, when two hands reached out to pull the rest of the puppet out of the box, and while they did succeed, they did wind up collapsing onto the floor. Your wooden X, which you had long forgotten, managed to grab your attention once again, as the strings on it seemed to head towards the puppet below, attaching one at a time. The puppet definitely seemed creeped out by the strings, meanwhile you were freaking out as everything that had happened in the last couple of minutes came crashing down on you all at once coupled with the facts that the strings and the puppet were moving on their own and you just wanted to go home. The logical thing was to find the knife in your bag and use it to cut the guy free, but you weren’t exactly thinking straight and did the only thing that crossed your mind which was to hopefully snap the strings and thus you tried to yank the x away from the puppet as far as you could. This unsurprisingly proved to be the wrong decision as the puppet was yanked a few inches off the stage’s floor and let out a voiceless, but still chilling scream. And then came the headache, there was no idea you’d ever forget that kind of pain. The kind that made your eyes squeeze shut as they watered and the world spun. It was over as quick as it began, and then you realized you still had the puppet hanging in the air. You immediately placed him back onto the floor and you took a second to catch your breath. 

You don’t know what compelled you to speak to the puppet, but you did anyways. “Uh, hi.” The puppet gave a startled expression, looking left and right, obviously still as on edge as you are. Actually, thanks to the spotlight, you could see the puppet much more clearly than before. And he was every bit as familiar as Miss Undertaker, being the Showdown Bandit himself and all. “I’m up here. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Well not anymore than that tug already did. Hopefully that wouldn’t cause a problem. Seriously, what the hell was that headache about? “I’m, I’m (Y/N) and you’re Bandit, yeah?” Bandit gave a slight nod. You scratched the back of your neck. “I guess we’d better get going too, huh? Maybe we can find someone who knows what’s going on here.” The question was, how were you gonna make him move? He definitely seemed like he was tethered to the strings now. You could just pick him up and carry him, but something told you that was a bad idea. Suddenly, as if by second nature, you held out the X,and began making the motions that would allow Bandit to walk. “How-? Never mind, not gonna question it right now.” You already had too many mysteries. You led Bandit over to the nearby door. “You ready?” Bandit nods. You rolled your shoulders and prepared yourself for the next big surprise. “Let the show begin, I guess.”


	2. Episode 1, Part 2-The journey begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so begins the heap of questions

Said surprise came literally a few seconds later, as not only was there a second Bandit puppet, seemingly dead, Bandit’s thought was to loot the corpse (?). He did manage to get his hands on his Pop Pistol which might wind up being useful, but it was still unsettling nonetheless. Speaking of which, the knife has been moved from the satchel into your jacket pocket. You couldn’t explain it, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that you were being watched, if you really couldn’t see much into the darkness. You had to admit his moves with the pistol definitely gave off a tough guy aura, and you’d be lying if you said they didn’t get a chuckle out of you. 

As the sound of crashing metal punctured the silence, a door was revealed that you lead him through. The set immediately began shifting, and you lifted him up (which thankfully went a lot smoother this time) to keep him out of the way. And the first thing you heard was drumming? Wait no, footsteps? Yeah you could see what looked like kids. You normally would have ran over, because kids usually meant an adult was nearby and they could help you figure out what the actual hell was going on right now, but something felt extremely wrong, they weren’t acting like kids. They weren’t running, or laughing, or even speaking, just marching in unison with their heads drooped down. It just felt like someone tried to make a kid, but had no idea how a kid actually acted. It was enough to make shivers run down your spine.

It was probably better to stay away for now until you figured out what their deal was.

As you lead Bandit past them, you could see posters of the Bandit (of course), Miss Undertaker, and the Banker. All three had their respective name on the top, and at the bottom it said “Showdown Bandit and the Dusty Hills Band.” Wait, what? If memory serves correctly, the episodes you watched (and you watched practically all of them) were from the “Showdown Bandit Show.” Miss Undertaker looked completely different, and Banker’s personality seemed to make a complete 180. He was a lovable nervous wreck, but here he looked like he was ready to charge into battle, guns blazing. Why was the light flickering above his poster? Was there some sort of reboot? You shoved that thought away, you had more important things to worry about right now. 

Stage lights illuminated the next room. From your point of view, you could see a circle with a picture of the Pop pistol on it. As you lead him over, Miss Undertaker‘s shadow appeared, but you couldn’t see from where. “Bandit, before you go! Since you were last in town, things haven’t gotten any friendlier. Folks might not be exactly happy to see you. But I never unboxed a Bandit who ain’t as quick as can be with that cork gun! Just be ready!” So there were more than one Bandit. The corpse more or less confirmed it for you, but how many? Were they all in those mountains of cases, or were some wandering the set somewhere? Was there another person here, someone who could help or at the very least knew what the actual hell is going on? Needless to say, such a statement left you with only more questions than answers, and a glance at your new companion’s face confirmed he felt the same way. Welp, only one thing to do. Press on, and try to find those answers yourself.

As Bandit pulled a nearby lever, the circle had begun to glow slightly. And when the outlaw stood on it, your point of view immediately shifted to about his eye level. You weren’t seeing through his eyes, but it was like you were standing right next to him. Wait no, you could still see the top of the stage, your body, the seemingly endless darkness, but you could see the set around you as well. The shiny silver bell definitely got your attention, and right after you got Bandit to shoot it, the sound of metal revealed another door, and your vision returned to normal. ….what the actual fuck was that? That definitely wasn’t any weirder than the living cowboy puppet, but it was up on the list somewhere. You paused. You had to stop for a moment, process what the hell was going on. 

Bandit definitely looked concerned and you had to take a breath. “It’s fine, I’m fine. I just need-.” A large thud cut you off and you decided this probably wasn’t the best place to take a break. Hooks above continued to swing ominously as you led him down the hall and to another door. 

The next room proved to be just as weird as the previous ones, with a blank puppet drooping over in a blue director’s chair. Either way, the room provided nothing of use or answers, so off to the next room!

And yeesh, this one was ominous. Red light glowed, making everything look like it was covered in a thin layer of blood, and the message saying “don’t look up” made from torn pieces of paper definitely wasn’t helping. There was an arrow on the wall pointing to the next room, so you might as well go there. There was another blank puppet in the corner, but you assumed since the last one didn’t move, this one probably wouldn’t either. Boy did that thought come back to bite you, as the blank puppet did stand up and stalked Bandit, striking at one of his strings once they got close enough. Bandit winced, while your free hand rubbed at your shoulder blade to rub at the sudden stabbing pain. The blank puppet lifted their hand once again, obviously about to repeat the same action. Not about to let that happen, you yanked the x to drag Bandit to the next door, which was thankfully enough to to escape.

You paused for a brief moment. So there were puppets like Bandit, who were connected to strings and relatively normal, and those who weren’t and seemed to attack on sight. Good to know. At least those puppets were completely devoid of any features, so it’ll be easy to spot and avoid them early on. The pain had dwindled down to a dull throb, but the unease did not do the same. Your hand inspected your shoulder, but there wasn’t any other soreness or pain. 

While there were two booths in this room, there didn't seem to be anything that could be a threat so thankfully you weren’t punished for not being completely focused right now. There was something white in the first booth, and as Bandit got closer, it sprang up to reveal it was the Banker, and your vision was once again jerked down to their level. He was one of your favorites, too! While he definitely was a nervous wreck (being robbed all the time probably didn’t help), he always had good intentions and was just endearing overall. “Ah Bandit! S-so good you made it! Welcome to my humble booth. Anything you leave with me will be ready and waiting.” As your vision returned to normal, you heard “Ever wonder what strings are attached to up there?” You gave an uneasy look to the x and its barely shining strings. You doubted it was a good idea to tell them anything, at least until you figured out how this worked. For all you knew, letting them know could wind up with the strings strangling them all!....ok, maybe that was a little far out, but at this point, you genuinely would not be surprised if that really did happen.

Guiding Bandit to the second booth revealed Doc Craver rising out from behind his counter. While you did have an uneasiness about doctors in general, Doc honestly seemed like a nice guy, if blunt. Honestly, that bluntness was at times hilarious. “You must take care to guard your strings. I can mend them, of course.” Of course, he was a doctor. Why wouldn’t he be able to mend the puppets’ injuries? As you had Bandit hand over some bucks for Doc to fix his string, your vision snapped back to normal and you could feel the pain in your shoulder fade until it was gone. Ok, so you can see from the puppet’s level every so often, and apparently feel pain whenever Bandit’s strings are cut and be in pain until they’re repaired. You sighed and rubbed your eyes, sure, why not?

Taking Bandit north of the Banker and Doc lead him to a hallway with a door to the left, and one at the far end. Deciding to go through the closest one first, it was shown to be what you could only guess was an office. As Bandit walked past a small tv, it suddenly blared to life and belted out the theme song. “Who's our buddy 'til the end? Showdown. Bandit. Who will be our western friend? Showdown Bandit, yay! Who's a bad guy they all say? Showdown. Bandit. Who stands up for good today? Showdown Bandit, YAY! ” You frowned. You remembered the theme song being much more lively and exciting than...whatever this was. As the song started it’s final verses, you had Bandit make his way up a ramp that led to the top of a table. There was a piece of tan paper and you could see the message clear as day in your head.

_Howdy! I’m writing to complain about the closing of Penny’s general store.  
Since it disappeared, folks have started eatin’ old boxes of those tasteless Crumby Crisps.  
I wouldn’t give ‘em to the dead.  
Miss Undertaker_

Geez, they were that bad, huh?….now you wanted to try them. A morbid part of you wanted to see how bad they really were. You did worry for Penny, and you could tell Bandit felt the same. She was Bandit’s younger sister figure, and a sweet and charming girl to boot, not to mention a great singer. You really hoped she was alright, or at least, relatively ok. 

You could still tell Bandit was worried, but once the tv had turned itself off with a loud click, you let out a loud sigh of relief. “Thank god that’s over, that was awful.” It took Bandit a minute to figure out what you were referring to, but once he did, he held his hand up to his chest and had the most over exaggerated offended expression that caused you to burst out laughing, causing him to do the same. “Seriously, though, what happened here?” Bandit shrugged, that was honestly your answer for lol this weird stuff going on so far. You mimicked his action. Fair enough.

You had him go back into the hallway, this time heading towards the door furthest away. This opened up to yet another room full of doors. Deciding to open the dark blue door on the left first, the room was unfortunately a dead end. There was one of those levers in here, which probably met a shooting circle was nearby. 

As you returned Bandit to the main room, you could see a paper nailed on to one of the posts.

_**WANTED**  
Somebody to bring back the key to Happy Mine.  
Those nasty critters went and hid it somewhere in the Wild  
The mountain pass is closed until that key is found.  
Banker_

Guess after you’re done checking this place out, the Wild should be the next stop. It was a dangerous place on the show, practically stuffed to the gills with criminals hiding from the sheriff, but seeing as everything was a lot emptier than ever before, it would be fine. Probably.

Having Bandit go into the second door, a purple one with red stars, had led to another dead end, but this one was far more comforting than any of the others that came before it, with gentle lamp isn’t and a song playing softly. It didn’t seem like anything or anyone else found get in, so you added that to the mental list of stuff to write in the journal. This could be a good place to take breaks.

The final door did lead to the Wild, and as Bandit entered, you could hear a recording of wind chimes and wat you think were crows coming from somewhere else. Ok, the key should be somewhere around here...and you stopped once again to loudly groan, realizing you had no idea what this key even looked like. Sure, there probably weren’t a bunch of keys lying around here, but it would be so much easier if you had a basic idea about some of its features. Bandit did look concerned at your actions, but you were quick to brush it off. “It’s fine, I’m fine. We’re probably gonna have to search this whole area because I have no idea where it could be in here. Let me know if you see anything, alright?” Bandit grinned and gave a thumbs up, and you could feel his determination roll off of him in waves, and rubbing off on you. “Ok, let’s get started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that it took me this long, but school’s been keeping me busy! Good news though, now that today is officially the last day of school, and I am a high school graduate, I will have plenty of time to work on this! It’s not like I got plans!  
> Also I’m very sorry to whoever commented on Friday, I accidentally deleted it. it I appreciate all of your comments very much!


End file.
